Disease Transmission Among Wild Big Cats and Domestic Cats

The National Science Foundation has awarded ColoradoStateUniversity scientists a $2.3 million grant to study how habitat fragmentation in parts of the United States influences the transmission of diseases among bobcats, pumas and domestic cats. This work will ultimately help scientists in the future identify how urbanization influences the dynamics of infectious disease among wildlife populations and domestic pets.

Dr. Sue VandeWoude, an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, and Dr. Kevin Crooks, an Associate Professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, will study the three different cat species in divergent habitats in Colorado, Florida and California as part of a National Science Foundation Ecology of Infectious Diseases research program.

Bobcats and pumas share overlapping habitats in these regions, are susceptible to many of the same diseases and are at risk of infection with some domestic cat pathogens. Hundreds of outdoor domestic cats roam around urban edges with some access to adjacent natural areas, potentially coming into contact with wild cats. Scientists will study to what extent disease agents in puma and bobcat populations are found in domestic cats. Some of these diseases, such as toxoplasmosis and bartonella, or cat scratch disease, also can infect humans.

"We're interested in discovering how 'pile-up' or restriction of the home ranges of these species along urban edges affects the transmission of diseases relative to incidence in more rural areas, said Dr. VandeWoude, principal investigator on the study. We suspect that the spectrum of pathogens and the rate of infection changes as habitat fragmentation forces those species to live in closer proximity.

The scientists will look for a trend between disease dynamics and urban fragmentation among feline species in high density places such as Los Angeles and the Colorado Front Range compared to more rural areas. Ultimately, they hope to understand the relationship between urbanization and the prevalence of cross-species disease transmission.

Dr. VandeWoude's lab specializes in the study of a common feline disease, feline immunodeficiency virus, or FIV, which creates a lifelong infection and can be fatal to infected animals. Bobcats, pumas and domestic cats each have their own specific FIV strain. Drs. VandeWoude and Crooks will study how the strains are similar across species and locations, providing insight into connectivity within and among populations.

Both pumas and bobcats are sensitive to urban fragmentation and require connectivity to maintain a viable population. Rapidly expanding human development is increasingly encroaching on remaining natural habitat for both species. Rural areas are growing at a rate faster than urban areas in the West, creating rural sprawl in many areas.

Drs. Crooks and VandeWoude and collaborators use GPS collars to track the movement of bobcats and puma movements through urban and rural areas. The tracking data will offer insight to scientists as to how urbanization influences movement patterns, contact rates and disease transmission between bobcats, pumas and domestic cats. The researchers also will collect blood samples from wild cats and from domestic cats that may have been feral that are brought to area shelters to research disease cross-species transmission.

Fellow collaborators on this project include Drs. Michael Lappin and Mo Salman at ColoradoState, and colleagues at the Colorado Division of Wildlife, U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, National Institutes of Health, University of California Davis and the University of Florida.

Carole’s note:

When I contacted Dr. Mark Cunningham at FWC and asked him about release options for some of the bobcats we are currently caring for we had a very interesting conversation about disease transmission and trends in Florida. I had described the neurological problems that both Will and Kennedy have displayed and he wondered aloud if this could be some manifestation of canine distemper. He said that very little data collection is happening with bobcats, but that their numbers are diminishing and he would like to do something for them before they go the way of the Florida Panther. I put him in touch with our vet, Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM who had also been researching these same issues and they both knew of the work that Dr. VandWoude is doing (above.) Dr. Wynn is going to coordinate with all of the above to share blood samples, tests and examination reports from the rehab bobcats we work with. Says Dr. Wynn, “I

am really excited that we may be able to be a part of something that helps the wild populations. I will let you know when I here more from them.” Stay tuned…

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